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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Just got the July batch of Weekly What's Large Where off to the presses, and sending out this week's installment to members. Also, look for a little WLT contribution to the California State Fair - we just scanned and sent some images to their Exhibition crew for a Quirky Travel site display.

Anyone eating a World's Largest Thing this summer, festival-wise? There are giant Cherry Pies to be had in George, Washington, the W.L. Pecan Pie in Okmulgee, and countless other feats of food fare to be had out there... If you partake, please post a pic or two!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Nablus set a Guinness world record recently after baking the world's largest knafeh pastry, the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported Sunday.

Some 600 kg of cheese and 300 kg of sugar were used in the making of the sweet pastry, along with 35 kg of pistachios.

The enormous knafeh measures 75 meters long and two meters wide, and has an estimated weight of about 1,350 kg.

According to 36-year-old Mohand Arabi, one of the project's initiators, the group that prepared the massive dessert has all the Guinness documentation in their possession, securing their attempt as an official record.

Knafeh is a sweet pastry, renowned throughout the Arab world, Turkey as well as in Israel. It is made primarily of noodles and honey-sweetened goat cheese.

The town of Nablus is considered to be the birth place of the knafeh, which it is believed to have first appeared at the beginning of the 15th century.

Nabulus's knafeh is famous thanks to the special Nabulsi cheese used in its preparation.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

The world's largest Newton's Cradle, designed by Chris Boden, is on public display in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is made of seven 15-pound (6.8 kg) bowling balls suspended from the ceiling by 20-foot (6.1 m) cables and is regularly used for scientific demonstrations.

Geek Group was on a mission to create the world's largest Newton's Cradle. The cradle was made of 15 bowling balls that hung three feet above the ground, and the entire apparatus was held up by a pair of 20 foot cables. 300 pounds later, this mega sized Newton's Cradle looks terrifying. Physics lovers, this just might be your dream perpetual motion toy.

Wiki also tells us of the world's biggest set of balls. Up to twenty full-sized bowling balls lined up in the classic cradle arrangement, suspended from girders by aircraft grade steel cables. To be honest, they usually only run it with 16, as the building shakes a bit too much with all 20 in operation. This also leaves four spares in case of a disaster, but it still looks impressive, even on a web page.

"The problem," according to builder, Mark Broker, "was having the balls to build it."

After a number of trials, the team started working with AMF, a leading supplier of bowling balls, and AMF made them a set of 20 balls matched for weight (15lb each) and size and internal composition.

I can't find a video on the web, but the website (the Geek Group) is listed below, and the installation is at 2309 N Burdick St, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The guys at Geek Group say,

"In the 2008 season we are working to secure a larger facility for the cradle and rebuild it to an even larger setup with higher-weighted balls and many more of them. We hope to not only set a world's record with this, but to break our own existing record."

Libertyville, IL - Lambs Farm's Participants and staff are baking a dog biscuit guaranteed to treat hundreds of hungry hounds. How big must this delicious treat be? In order to break the current world record, the biscuit should weigh nearly 400 pounds and measure 16 feet, and that is what Lambs Farm plans to do. The organization will unveil the world's largest dog biscuit on Saturday, June 20 at Woofstock - One Day of Puppy Love.

The agency has already applied to attempt the record-setting feat, and will submit its official results after the final weigh-in. The mammoth dog treat's recipe includes 300 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of peanut butter and 20 pounds of eggs. After the official weigh-in and photos, the biscuit will be cut up and samples will be available for all four-legged Woofstock attendees.

Lambs Farm's Woofstock is a full day dedicated to man's best friend. The free event will feature, in addition to the world's largest dog biscuit, a wide variety of vendors displaying specialty food items, toys, clothing and more; demonstrations from Cross Roads Search and Rescue, Robin's Dog Stars and Bark N Park; arts, crafts and games for both two-legged and four-legged attendees; a pet parade; and Lake County's premiere Couture Canine Fashion Show. A live band will also perform all day.

Woofstock will be held Saturday, June 20 at Lambs Farm from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is presented by Suncast Corporation, and sponsored by Record-A-Hit Entertainment and Natural Balance. For more information on Woofstock, or to be a vendor or demonstrator, please visit www.lambsfarm.org, or contact Claudia Stevens at 847.990.3750 or crs@lambsfarm.org. Lambs Farm is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering adults with developmental disabilities to lead personally fulfilling lives through a full range of vocational, residential, social and recreational programs. Based near Libertyville, Illinois at the intersection of Rt. 176 and I-94, Lambs Farm has assisted individuals to create their own pathways to meaningful experiences, at home and in the community, since 1961. For more information on Lambs Farm, please visit www.lambsfarm.org.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Residents sometimes forget the unique place Lucas Kansas has on the national (and international!) roadmap. Two new publications again focus on this amazing tiny town, with a lot of print space given to local attractions and culture.

First, the Society for Commerical Archeology Journal Spring 2009 issue features a 2000 word article, with over a dozen full color images, examining the Garden of Eden and it's impact. This is an academic Journal, sent out to scholars and researchers, universities and members only. It's used as the benchmark for a specific industry, the study of the American roadside. Articles here often find themselves used as the basis for major thesis projects, cited in additional articles, and used as a valued resource. The article in this issue was originally produced by Erika Nelson and Jon Blumb for Raw Vision magazine, and is re-printed here in its entirety. Not only are there 8 full color pages inside, an historic photo of the Garden is used for the cover art.

Second, Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations have released a new Coast to Coast Travel-O-Pedia, a 200-plus page book listing all the interesting, amazing, and offbeat sites their fan-base needs to see. The chapters are broken up by region, and the entire Midwest section starts out with Garden of Eden photos and kudos in the second paragraph: "The list always begins in Lucas with the Garden of Eden." These folks LOVE Lucas, and all it has to offer. Town sites also grace the cover, as well as the standard listings in the information section, detailing hours and type of attractions found in Lucas. And, one of S.P. Dinsmoor's sculptures is the largest element in the cover design, pointing the way to amazing things.

Congratulations, Lucas, on being exactly what you are. Please, take a moment to remember how special and amazing a town like ours is, and that we have friends across the nation.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Using a specially-designed product called Put-In-Cups (http://www.putincups.com/shop/index.php), the oversized strips of bacon are assembled from plastic inserts in a chain-link fence. Three pieces made it up this year, with a lot of volunteer help. There had been plans for four, but 20 hours and numberous bleeding fingers later, we decided on the traditional serving-size of three...

This was a temporary display, only up through the Festival weekend (June 12 - 14), but will re-appear on the North Tennis Court fence at the next fabulous event.

Thanks for help, Bacolicious Brothers, and for the great comments and pictures, WLT fans!

ZAGREB (AFP) — A pair of jeans the size of six tennis courts, stitched together from thousands donated for charity, should be recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest anywhere, organisers said on Sunday.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Two more packets go out today, one new, one renew... Best Back Yard Visitors of the month go to two WLT Fans who are meandering their way across the US, visiting only kitsch environments.

Now, packing for the big BACOLICIOUS project at the Smoky Hill River Festival - we're installing tomorrow and Thursday, on the upper tier of the tennis courts, visible throughout the festival this weekend in Salina Kansas. C'mon by!

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Sideshow Poster Now Available!

11" x 17" Sideshow Poster

You can now order a poster of the first WLT Sideshow Banner that will make up the new traveling exhibit, due to make its first appearance in May, 2010. Poster is glossy, full color, 11" x 17", and features paintings of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.